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Western Washington University's "The Great Depression and its 50 Year Shadow" Symposium records, 1981-1982

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Western Washington University
Title
Western Washington University's "The Great Depression and its 50 Year Shadow" Symposium records
Dates
1981-1982 (inclusive)
Quantity
1 linear ft. , ( )
Collection Number
XOE_CPNWS0040wwudepression (collection)
Summary
The collection contains the records of a grant based project designed to document the effects of the Great Depression in Whatcom County. Includes grant applications, planning records, transcripts of symposium speakers and programs, and audio tapes and transcripts of oral history interviews with local figures on their Depression-era experiences.
Repository
Western Washington University, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
Goltz-Murray Archives Building
808 25th St.
Bellingham, WA
98225
Telephone: (360) 650-7534
cpnws@wwu.edu
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding the finding aid was awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

Western Washington University's "The Great Depression and Its Fifty-Year Shadow" Symposium was a series of public programs, funded by a grant from the Washington Commission for Humanities, that took place during the fall of 1981. The programs were designed to explore how the Great Depression affected the community of Bellingham, Washington through first-hand accounts and analyses by historians, economists, and other scholars. The series culminated in the publication of a monograph edited by program director, Phyllis W. Bultmann, and published by the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies in 1982. Material for the publication was derived from the edited transcripts of audio recordings of the public programs.

Organizations which supported the series included the Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (RSVP), Whatcom Museum of History and Art, the Washington State Archives, the Bellingham Public Library, the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, and KVOS-TV.

The first public program was a planning session with members of RSVP, six of whom volunteered to record their recollections of life during the 1930s. The planning session was followed by Roundtable Discussions and Town Hall Meetings in which members of the public were invited to share their experiences and interpretations of the Depression. The public meetings culminated in a two-day symposium with speakers that included scholars, elected officials, leaders of community institutions, journalists and members of the business community.

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Content Description

Western Washington University's "The Great Depression and its 50 Year Shadow" Symposium records include grant administration records, tape transcripts, and original audio cassette tapes. Materials related to the grant administration include the initial grant application, financial records, and correspondence. The collection contains a draft of the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies' publication "The Great Depression and its fifty-year shadow," edited by program director Phyllis W. Bultmann, as well as edited transcripts of the six public programs.

Although reference to the availability of full transcriptions of the audio tapes is made in the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies' publication only edited transcripts are included in the collection. Reference is also made to clippings, pamphlets and other materials intended to generate publicity for the project but none of these materials are included in the collection. Materials relating to the television and radio programs are also not included.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Western Washington University's "The Great Depression and its 50 Year Shadow" Symposium records, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Western Washington University's "The Great Depression and its 50 Year Shadow" Symposium records are organized in accordance with the following series arrangement:

  • Series I. Grant Administration 1981-1982
  • Series II. Transcripts 1981
  • Series III. Audio Tapes 1981

Custodial History

Western Washington University's "The Great Depression and its 50 Year Shadow" Symposium records were donated to the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies by program director Phyllis W. Bultmann, date unknown.

Related Materials

The published monograph "The Great Depression and Its Fifty-Year Shadow" can be found in the Archives Reference Room at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies.

Processing Note

About Harmful Language and Content

To learn more about problematic content in our collections, collection description and teaching tools (including how to provide feedback or request dialogue on this topic), see the following Statement About Potentially Harmful Language and Content

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Depressions--1929--Northwest, Pacific--History--Sources
  • Economic conditions--Northwest, Pacific--1918-1945--History--Sources
  • Social conditions--Northwest, Pacific--1918-1932--History--Sources

Geographical Names

  • Whatcom County (Wash.)--History--Sources

Finding aid created by Midori Okazaki.
1999

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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